


III. CONMIGO

by ghostfacekillmonger



Series: CHUNK. [3]
Category: Black Panther (2018)
Genre: Angst, F/M, Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-05
Updated: 2019-09-05
Packaged: 2020-10-10 05:35:06
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,199
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20522789
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ghostfacekillmonger/pseuds/ghostfacekillmonger
Summary: Chloe breaks bread, breaks curfew, and breaks boundaries with Erik.





	III. CONMIGO

**Author's Note:**

> This chapter picks back up with teenage Erik and Chloe. From this point on, the chapters will alternate between the two timelines.

The beach was better at night. There were no loud tourists or mischievous children, just the soft sounds of the waves crashing into themselves. Chloe liked to sit on her blanket and watch them roll into the shore.

She had come home from school to an empty house, which wasn’t anything new. Her mother drove trucks and was currently on a long haul across the country. Her brother was likely in the streets, but he was thoughtful enough to leave her some money for dinner. After finishing her homework and some light cleaning, she made a break for it. She took the bus halfway to the beach, and then walked the rest, making sure to stop by her favorite Cuban restaurant for beef empanadas.

Chloe made it to the beach just in time to have dinner and show. She watched the warm orange and purple hues of the sun set over Miami and it was better than any movie or television show she could have watched at home. She wanted to live in that moment and stay there forever.

_“You was waiting for me, mamacita?”_

Chloe could not figure out how, but Erik always seemed to find her at the perfect times. He appeared out of the shadows like dream, still dressed in his school clothes with a joint tucked behind his ear. Without asking, he took a seat beside her on the blanket.

He bit his lip as Chloe eyed him curiously. “You was waiting for me?”

“You following me now?” Chloe stretched her legs and took a good look at his face. There’s no way he knew how beautiful he looked in the waning sunlight.

“Little miss smart ass, huh? Okay, I gotchu.” Erik tipped her greasy paper bag to examine the contents. His mouth watered at the scent of the savory pastry. There was only one left.

Chloe noticed the hunger in his eyes. “You want it?”

“I don’t want to take your last one.”

“We can share then.” Chloe took the last empanada from the bag and broke it in half, handing the fatter side to Erik. He nodded in appreciation and took a bite. Erik had looked out for her so many times before, sliding her cereal bars and juices when she would skip lunch, it’s the least she could do.  
Chloe took small bites and watched Erik as he devoured his half. “What you doing out here?” She asked, initiating conversation.

“I could ask you the same thing.”

“I asked you first…”

Erik smirked and swallowed what was left in his mouth. “This my smoke spot. I come out here, roll my L, and get high in peace…your turn.”

The sky was darkening and a bright half moon rose above them. Despite the lights from the city there were still visible stars, and probably a few in Chloe’s eyes every time she looked at Erik. He saw them and thought they were just as lovely as the ones in the sky.

Chloe pulled her knees to her chest and shrugged. “Same as you I guess. Peace.”

“It’s quiet out here, huh?” Erik took the joint from behind his ear and placed it in his mouth. He searched his pockets for a lighter.

“Yeah. Good quiet.”

“Good quiet? I didn’t know quiet could be good.” He finally found his blue BIC and sparked up. The smell was strong, but Chloe didn’t mind it. She was used to it.

“There’s good quiet and bad quiet,” Chloe started. “When my granddad died, that was bad quiet. Nobody wanted to talk about him or remember him. It was thick, you know? The quiet. Almost painful.” Erik nodded and exhaled. “This is good quiet. Peace. Tranquility. I…” Chloe turned to Erik, who had been staring at her in amazement, smoke rolling out of his nostrils like the waves. It was the most he had heard her speak in a while and he didn’t realize how much he loved the timbre of her voice. “I sound dumb.”

“What you mean? You sound deep as shit.” Erik thumped ashes away. “You got a lot of interesting stuff to say, Chunk.”

“Yeah, but nobody listens…”

“I’ll listen…”

The wind whooshed between them, blowing out the heat of Erik’s joint. Chloe watched him cuff his hand against the breeze and light it again. After inhaling, Erik reached to tuck a stray curl behind her ear. She leaned into his touch as his hand lingered at the side of her face. Gently, his fingers ran along her jaw and down her neck. He finally pulled away, but let his hand rest next to hers on the blanket.

Chloe was slowly turning into mush. She wanted to touch him again, but she had questions first. “Why you wanna listen to me?”

“‘Cause I like you, Chloe.” Erik stated as if she already knew.

“Why you like me?”

He moved his pinky finger over hers and hooked them together. “I like you ‘cause you sweet. You smart. Beautiful. And you special, Chloe. Real special.”  
Everyone else in Erik’s life made him feel like he had to be hard. He wasn’t supposed to talk about his feelings or be gentle, especially not with women. But Chloe made him want to be soft. “You like me?”

Chloe made a bold move and interlaced their five fingers. “Yeah. I do.”

A good, but tense, quiet settled between them as both of them thought of what to do next.

“C’mere…” Erik cupped Chloe’s face in his hand and gently pushed her cheeks in, causing her lips to pucker. He took the final draw of his joint and held his lips over hers, nearly touching. Chloe closed her eyes as the smoke poured into her mouth and her hand traveled up Erik’s arm. Before she could completely inhale, Erik tilted her head up and took her lips into his. Erik’s fingers moved to the back of head and tangled within the curls of her hair, massaging her scalp all at the same time. She could taste the spiced beef and marijuana on his tongue and she loved every bit. It was something she knew could never be duplicated. The smacking sounds of their lips and the small moans that escaped echoed into the empty air and created their own little symphony.  


Erik had kissed many girls before, but with Chloe it was different. With Chloe he felt a spark. That had to be what love was like. Chloe whined a bit when he pulled away, making Erik laugh and give her a few more quick pecks.

Chloe had never kissed anyone before. She opened her mouth to speak, to ask if she was as good as the other girls but Erik shushed her.

“Ride with me for a minute?” He thumped the blunt into the sand and stood, knocking debri from his pants. Chloe stood without saying a word and packed her things. She would follow him wherever.

Erik drove an old Chevrolet Caprice that was between paint jobs at the time. He opened the door for her and then settled himself in the driver’s side. A chopped and screwed version of “Do U?” by Do or Die oozed from the 12 inch subwoofers and rattled his trunk. Once they got on the road, Erik drove with his left hand and held Chloe’s with his right. For what seemed like hours, they rode around the city with no destination - sometimes parking to talk, or kiss, or to just sit in silence.

Erik was avoiding the bad quiet of home just as much as Chloe was. His grandmother did nothing but gossip on the phone about his mother’s drug habit and fuss at him about where he should and shouldn’t be. He just wanted to be around someone that made him happy. Someone that reminded him that there was sweetness in the world. Chloe had always been that someone. 

Even though it was late, Erik decided to make a stop at a gas station. While he went in to pay for gas, Chloe dug her cell phone from her bag to check the time and for missed calls. The battery had died long ago but she figured it was fine, no one was looking for her anyway. The lot of the gas station was busy with truckers, travelers, and the usual nightlife. So, both Chloe and Erik surveyed their surroundings carefully. Chloe watched from the car as a woman approached Erik. She didn’t appear to be soliciting her services, but she must have asked for money because Erik handed her whatever cash was left in his wallet.  
Erik appeared flustered when he got back into the car. He didn’t hold her hand anymore.

“What was that about?” Chloe asked, both concerned and confused.

Erik kept his eyes on the road and his lips tight. She took the hint that he didn’t want to talk about it and leaned her head against the window. She closed her eyes for a brief moment until she heard him stiff. 

“That was my mom…” A tear slowly ran down Erik cheek as he drove. Chloe wiped it away with her thumb. Erik hadn’t seen his mother in months due to her drug habit. His voice cracked as he continued to speak. “She uh…she said she was hungry…” Erik wasn’t sure if she was telling the truth or if she needed cash for her next fix, but he didn’t want to risk it. They rode the rest of the way in silence until they reached Chloe’s apartment. 

Erik cut the engine and lights, as to not disturb the neighborhood. “I enjoyed you tonight, Chunk…”

“Yeah, it was fun…” Chloe’s hand rested at the door handle. “See you at school tomorrow?”

He shrugged. “Maybe. I’mma call you though. Tomorrow night.”

“Okay,” she agreed. She licked her lips, still able to taste him. “Can I have a goodnight kiss?”

Erik laughed and Chloe immediately felt like an idiot. Why would she ask that? She reached to make a run for it and escape her embarrassment, but felt Erik’s hand on her neck, pulling her back toward him. “C’mere, girl.” Erik leaned his body over the console and met her halfway. Their last kiss was just as sweet as the first on the beach, although much shorter. Erik placed a final peck on her forehead before she opened the door. “G’night, Chunk.” _Love you._

-;-;-

Chloe stood on her front steps and embraced the stillness of the early morning. It was nearly sunrise, and everything in the neighborhood was uncharacteristically quiet. No loud music, no women gossiping, no corner boys. Nothing. And it was beautiful.

She took one more deep breath of the morning air and unlocked the front door, praying her brother wasn’t at home or awake. He would lose his shit if he caught her coming home this late in a school night.

As she opened the door, she caught a glimpse of Maceo’s long, dark body splayed across the couch, pistol resting on his bare stomach. Chloe watched his chest rise and fall for a few moments just to make sure he was asleep. She started to tip her way up the stairs, but didn’t make it far before her brother’s booming voice caught her ear.

“Where the fuck you been?”

Maceo rose from the couch quickly and met Chloe where she was. She sighed and looked down at her feet.

“Out.”

“Out? It’s 4 in the goddamn morning, Chloe. I been calling you all fuckin’ night!”

“My phone died…”

“Where you been at?”

“Nowhere…”

“Aight, who you been with?”

Maceo grabbed Chloe’s arm and spun her towards him. She kept her eyes low and arms folded.

“Nobody…”

“You smell like dope, Chloe. Who you been with?!” Silence. “If you was with that Erik Stevens nigga, I swear to God…”

“Erik is my friend!”

“Erik is trouble.”

“I guess you know something about being trouble, huh?” She gestured at the small bags of weed and pills on the coffee table. Chloe didn’t mean to be smart, but she was frustrated.

“Watch your mouth, girl. I’m providing for this family…”

“And destroying his…Maceo, we…we saw his momma on the street…”

Maceo didn’t have much to say then. Even though he had never sold to Erik’s mother directly, he knew how bad she was strung out. He adjusted his stance and looked around the apartment. 

“You really like him don’t you?”

Chloe nodded and wiped tears from her eyes. She was tired of crying too, but it’s the only thing she really knew how to do.

“Listen…” Maceo scratched his head through his black durag. His sister was young, exploring, and just trying to figure things out. He had to allow it, no matter how much he wanted to shelter her. “Don’t let this shit happen again, alright? I got eyes everywhere and I won’t hesitate to pull rank on you or that lil’ nigga. You understand me?”

“Yeah…” Chloe sighed.

“Aight then..” Maceo turned away and head back to his place on the couch. Chloe jetted up the stairs but she could still hear him yelling after her: “And keep that fuckin’ phone charged!”


End file.
